


words not (yet) spoken

by sunshine_butch



Category: TAZ Amnesty - Fandom, The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: (it doesn’t come up but just so you know), Character Study, Gratuitous References to They Might Be Giants, M/M, POV Second Person, Trans Duck Newton, autistic indrid cold, listen..... I just love these boys
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-14
Updated: 2019-03-14
Packaged: 2019-11-17 20:20:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 812
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18105752
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sunshine_butch/pseuds/sunshine_butch
Summary: mint tea. your favorite.you don’t remember when he started keeping that here.you don’t see the point in asking.(or: i love duck newton and the world always needs more indruck fluff)





	words not (yet) spoken

**Author's Note:**

> i really love duck newton...... justin mcelroy said trans rights!
> 
> anyways i’ve wanted to do a character study for him forever and i finally had a free afternoon! plus ive never written in second person so this was a lot of fun :)
> 
> this was heavily inspired by undone, undone by agivise ! it’s one of my all-time favorite fics and y’all should check it out :)))!!

it happens slowly. you don’t realize, not for a while, and even then you barely notice because it just seems so obvious.   
  
the first time you think it to yourself (at least, the first time you notice it) is when you are visiting his winnebago. you were going to ask him about destiny or whatever, before you lost your powers, but the two of you got off topic a long time ago.

 

indrid hasn’t talked to people much since the 70’s, meaning he hasn’t been introduced to new music since then, which means he missed the entirety of they might be giants’ discography, which is really just a travesty.

 

you’re listening to we want a rock (you decided to go through chronologically, including the educational albums, because you have enough taste to recognize that good music is good music) and he’s using his seeing abilities to hum along before he’s even heard the whole chorus, but because of that, he’s just a little bit ahead of the tune, and the pitch is a little off, but it’s so endearing that you can’t help but smile.

 

then he gets up to flip the record about ten seconds before the song actually ends.

 

that’s the first time you realize.   
  
but that’s not really the first time, is it? because it reminds you of the time aubrey and dani were bickering over something in the lobby of amnesty lodge.   
  
you don’t remember exactly what it was about, but although their words are objectively mean, their tone is so soft, their eyes full of affection for one another, that any possible bitterness is entirely lost in translation.   
  
you envy that, the young puppy-love that they have, in the safety (well, as safe as kepler gets these days) of the lodge. your youth was spent getting high under bleachers and cutting your own hair in the bathroom mirror and escaping to abandoned repurposed buildings where people know your real name.   
  
but you don’t regret anything, because as much as you groan and grumble, you’re happy now. here, with aubrey and ned and mama and barclay and   
  
indrid, who is currently sprawled dramatically across your sofa, lamenting the lack of eggnog in your fridge, and you make a mental note to add that to your grocery list, and it’s followed by that thought again. you push it back, not out of fear or repression, but because you’re distracted by the absolutely ridiculous noise he makes when minnie jumps onto his stomach, knocking the wind out of him.   
  
there’s no pressure when you’re around indrid. he gets that sometimes you just don’t have to talk, sometimes you just have to close your eyes and take a deep breath because it’s a lot, sometimes, even after your destiny abandoned you.   
  
the fate of the world (worlds) rests on your shoulders, duck newton, but you aren’t alone.   
  
not while indrid cold has anything to say about it.   
  
the others (and by that you mean ned and aubrey, and also juno, because who else would you tell anyways?) don’t know, simply because they never ask. they aren’t being rude, it’s just been a while since either of them have seen indrid and you assume that they assume the same of you.   
  
there’s no real reason to correct aubrey when she comments on it after a long silence on a late-night hunt.   
  
so you don’t.   
  
you were never much of a talker, were you?   
  
you don’t notice, really, how quiet your apartment gets now that minerva has stopped visiting, until indrid starts coming over more and more often and filling the silence with run-on musings, his lilting voice bringing the small space to life.   
  
he’s over a lot more these days. he never says why.   
  
you never feel the need to ask.   
  
he’s so easy to be with, whether or not you’re talking. for two people so strongly guided by some higher purpose, your time together is simply spent being.   
  
it’s nice.   
  
you think it again, in his winnebago this time, heaters cranked up dangerously high, but you’re too tired to mind.   
  
this hunt was a rough one, with a monster that seemed especially fond of making your life harder, and you still aren’t used to the loss of your natural toughness. so indrid is puttering around his kitchen, half-singing half-humming some made up song, fixing you up a mug of hot tea.   
  
mint. your favorite.   
  
you don’t remember when he started keeping that here.   
  
you don’t see the point in asking.   
  
and as he does a little pirouette in his kitchenette, you think of that phrase and chuckle because hey, that rhymes, and he looks over at you with a quizzical “hm?”   
  
and you respond, truthfully,   
  
“i love you”   
  
and even though you aren’t the short-term seer in the room, you are anything but surprised when he replies   
  
“i love you too”

**Author's Note:**

> i hope y’all enjoyed! lmk what you thought & please leave kudos if you read all the way to the end :)! love u all


End file.
